Custom Paint Removal - Just Take It Off And Strip

A Disassembly And Paint Removal How-To

Paint & Body Special SectionAny paint job involves decisions, and one of the most important decisions you will make in painting your Corvette is just how far you want to go. Here, there are extreme ends of the spectrum. There are plenty of quickie paint shops that will scuff the existing exterior paint, bust out the tape, and spray away. That barely rates as a bare minimum pproach. On the other hand, perfection means pulling the body off and down to a bare shell, stripped of the last nut and bolt, and kicking off the paintwork from there. Most of us will end up somewhere in the middle. The condition of the car plays an important role in the decisionmaking process. Indeed, if the car is otherwise mint and is being resprayed in the stock color, a scuff and exterior respray may be quite acceptable.

For our project C3 Corvette, there were several factors that set the direction. Overall, the vehicle is in decent condition, but the fact that the exterior paint was heavily checked (surface cracking) meant the paint would have to be stripped completely off. The visible cracks in the paint common to these cars will typically go right down to the bottom layer of primer. Just sanding and burying the checked paint with more primer will only temporarily hide the problem if it is not dealt with by stripping. In fact, our car had already received one respray over its original finish sometime in its past life, and, needless to say, the checking was not dealt with then.

Another factor that helps define the direction of our effort is the fact that we will be changing colors from the factory white to a custom orange from Planet Color. Since we don't want any trace of the original paint peaking in, the color change necessitates substantial disassembly. We removed every bit of exterior trim and components from the exterior body. Before it's all done, the doors will be removed, as well as the hood for a seamless repaint in the new hue. Essentially, all the areas that will be visible, and many that will not, will be repainted in the new color, with no taped edges hiding or revealing the original white.

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Custom Paint Removal - Just Take It Off And Strip

Wiping compound into body.

We began disassembly of some components while the bumper caps were off. the complete front headlamp assemblies were removed while the front caps were off. there is no way to completely detail paint these without removal, particularly in a color change.

Likewise, the side marker lights were removed from their recesses. We couldn't live with ourselves knowing there is the old white paint in behind there if we simply taped them off. Save all the stock hardware, and catalog it for reassembly.

Our '76 corvette has a key-lock for the factory alarm system mounted in the left front fender, retained by a clip like a door lock. We debated whether it will go back in or not in our custom corvette, and still have not decided. the "Stingray" emblems were in their last year for 1976 and are retained by adhesive. We pried carefully to remove.

There is no way to get a clean finish inside the gas cap area without removing it. four screws and it's out, so it should be removed for any detailed paint job.

The radio antenna mast unscrews from the base, and the base is retained by a large nut that is sometimes stubborn. We worked the nut back and forth with penetrating oil. Once it was loose, the mast was unscrewed, and the base was dropped through the fender.

Our intention is to fully detail all the jambs, which means removing all the hardware, such as these guides for the t-tops; otherwise there will be a visible tape line and white paint hidden underneath.

Detail work necessitates removing all the weatherstripping for a high-quality job. the rear window seal channel was removed by drilling the rivets.

More jamb hardware includes the sill plates, moldings, and the rear finish strip that requires drilling more rivets for removal. All the adjacent interior trim panels will be removed or pulled back before painting.

The lower rocker trim is held on by machine screws along the length. unfortunately, a couple of ours were frozen and required drilling for removal. Once again, for a typical production paint job, many shops will leave these in place, but we wanted the new color to have complete coverage, even where hidden from sight.

Removing the side rearview mirror is done from the exterior of the door, first removing the mounting pin screw to free the mirror, and then two screws to remove the mounting bracket.

This kind of a job necessitates getting inside the doors, which begins with removal of the door panel. the window fuzzy is held on by screws at both ends and snaps out with a stern thumb push. failing to remove these will leave a tape line all across the top of the door.

Getting at the door handle fastener is tight, but with the linkage disconnected and two 7/16-inch nuts removed, the handle is out. the door lock is freed by removing a clip from inside the door.

Here is the reason many corvettes of this vintage need to be stripped of all paint. looking close, the paint is covered in fine cracks, and these go right down to the bottom layer of primer. Painting over a surface like this will inevitably lead to the cracks reappearing.

Our choice for paint removal was a commercial paint stripper. Although sometimes paints can be tough, ours literally melted as the stripper was applied. Work a panel or smaller area at a time, putting a thick, even layer of stripper on the surface with a brush.

Once the stripper has had time to work, use a plastic bondo spreader to scrape the bulk of the goo from the surface and into a container. Our topcoat came off with a single application.

After scraping, the stripped panels were wiped with a clean rag wet with acetone. this removed the remaining paint and most of the stripper residue. the remaining primer is soft compared to the paint and easily sands off.